Puritan's Empire is essential reading for understanding what, exactly, the United States has done with its share of Christendom. In this book, Coulombe goes into a part of American history that most historians have either forgotten, ignored, or were never taught. Upon reading it, one can understand how America's full potential was sadly derailed from her original destiny.Coulombe actually recognizes the American Revolution as America's First Civil War, spearheaded by a core of radical oligarchs, riotous urban mobs and looters, and a passive-but-compliant majority in the populace. Rather than being viewed as America's native defense against the foreign power of England, the First American Civil War is shown to actually be a struggle in which "brother fights brother, and no quarter is given."In fact, the author goes further back showing that the European history of our land and people begin before 1776, and that this history involved the rule of monarchs. For not only were the colonies ruled by English kings--English rule being "no more foreign than the Federal government is in California today"--but the European settlers of these lands also originated with the Catholic monarchs of France and Spain, both powers being keenly interested in bringing the natives into the One True Faith.Puritan treatment of American Indians and Catholics is starkly contrasted with that of the more benevolent French and Spanish. There is a more seamless integration of the latter two powers into the New World than the Puritans. And consequently there is a high amount of resentment towards Indians, the French, Spanish, blacks (treated better by the Catholic monarchies), English loyalists, and Catholics overall.This Puritan bitterness contorted itself into a perennial backlash that has been a dark trait of the American psyche ever since. Coulombe traces this hostility through the draconian laws against early American Catholics, the violence of the Know-Nothings and the Ku-Klux-Klan, and the worldwide American drive to destroy monarchies and remnants of Christendom.But this book is not the screed of an aggrieved class. There are plenty of moments where Catholics are shown as being culpable for their failure to evangelize and thrive in lands that held so much potential. Simply wanting a place at America's table, Catholics seemed to have regarded the U.S. as "perfect in their current religious and political condition." And so, not only is the tale of Catholics in America one of persecution and misfortune, but it is also the story of tragic lost opportunities, betraying elements of "cowardice and dereliction on the part of the country's Catholics."Coulombe is one of the most important American authors we have. While many anti-Catholic Americans would disregard this historical account before ever picking up the book, an enormous amount of American Catholics, Europeans, and others around the world--thirsting for an explanation of America's current state--will undoubtedly cherish this rare volume. It goes without saying that this work should accompany any study of American history.Coulombe has undertaken what few authors have, and whether or not he realized what he was doing, the result was to produce one of the most exceptional and relevant books produced in this century. My prediction is that its readership will grow exponentially in the fullness of time, the more that Western society loses its bearings.For a follow-up encore to this incredible book, I highly recommend Coulombe's Star-Spangled Crown: A Simple Guide to the American Monarchy.Star-Spangled Crown: A Simple Guide to the American Monarchy